Army’s powers retained in draft Egypt charter

CAIRO: The panel drafting Egypt’s new constitution voted yesterday to preserve the military’s wide-ranging powers, including the ability to try civilians in certain cases, despite opposition from activists and rights groups.
The charter will be submitted to a referendum early next year that has been billed as the first stage in a “democratic transition” promised by the military-installed authorities following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in July.
The charter in its present form allows the military to prosecute civilians in some cases, appoint the defence minister and keep its budget beyond any civilian scrutiny — powers reserved by the legislature, executive and judiciary of most democratic countries.
More than 2,000 pro-Mursi university students meanwhile gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in the biggest Islamist demonstration there since Mursi’s ouster. Tahrir was the epicentre of the 2011 revolt that toppled long-ruling president Hosni Mubarak.
Police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters in Tahrir and another pro-Mursi demonstration near the High Court, the violence underscoring Egypt’s lingering polarisation nearly four months after the military deposed Mursi.
Mursi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, was overthrown on July 3, and in mid-August the security forces launched a sweeping crackdown on his supporters which has left more than 1,000 people killed and thousands more jailed.
Yesterday, authorities extended the detention of prominent secular activist Alaa Abdel Fattah by 15 days after he was arrested for holding an unauthorised demonstration against the provision in the draft charter allowing military trials of civilians. His detention is expected to further anger secular activists who are furious over the provisions in the draft charter concerning the military. Another 24 activists also saw their detention extended by 15 days yesterday.
The thorny issue of the insular military’s longstanding privileges was at the heart of voting on the constitution yesterday after the 50-member panel drafting the new charter approved 138 of the 247 articles of the basic law the day before.
Yesterday, the panel approved Article 204, which says that “no civilian can be tried by military judges, except for crimes of direct attacks on armed forces, military installations and military personnel.”
Several secular activists had demonstrated against the provision, fearing it could be applied to protesters, journalists and dissidents.
Such fears deepened after Abdel Fattah’s extended detention, with authorities accusing him of breaking a law on demonstrations, inciting protesters to riot and block roads, and beating a police officer. Another top activist, Ahmed Maher, was freed yesterday after he turned himself in at a Cairo court on Saturday following an order for his arrest.
A law passed earlier this month, which requires permits for all public gatherings, has angered secular and human rights groups, especially since the military justified its removal of Mursi by saying it was responding to mass protests.
Yesterday the army came in for more criticism from Human Rights Watch, which accused it of “forcibly disappearing” five top Mursi aides since his ouster. The panel also approved article 234, which stipulates that the defence minister be appointed in agreement with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, although panel spokesman Mohammed Salmawy said this clause will only apply during the first two presidential terms. The draft constitution also keeps the military’s budget beyond civilian scrutiny.
Army chief and defence minister General Abdel Fattah Al Sisi is hugely popular and seen as the real power behind the interim government after he led Mursi’s ouster.
Political analyst Hassan Nafea said the constitutional provisions concerning the army will “trigger debates among the secular camp.”
Nafea, professor of political science at Cairo University, said the referendum -- which will be followed by parliamentary and presidential elections in mid-2014 — will be the real test of the charter.
“I am not sure the constitution would be passed with a big majority by the Egyptian people... when (the) nation is polarised. People will not vote on the basis of whether the constitution is good or bad, but... on the basis of which camp you belong to,” he said.
The interim authorities suspended the constitution written under Mursi after his removal. That charter had been drafted by a 100-member panel dominated by his Islamist allies.AFP